News review – Tuesday 18 June 2019

No deal

IndependentRory Stewart has claimed up to 100 Conservative MPs would vote with him to stop Boris Johnson carrying out a no-deal Brexit – but ruled out joining with Labour to topple his government. The Tory leadership outsider refused to echo senior Tories Philip Hammond and Ken Clarke who could potentially back a vote-of-no-confidence, saying: “I’m not going to take down a Conservative government.” Questioned by The Independent at hustings in Westminster, Mr Stewart said: “We can stop a no-deal Brexit much more easily than that. “I, and nearly 100 of my colleagues, would vote to prevent a no-deal Brexit without having to bring down a Conservative government.” Mr Stewart also ruled out backing a Final Say referendum on Brexit, telling journalists it would be “catastrophic and divisive”.

Express
RORY STEWART claimed up to 100 Conservative MPs would join him and prevent Boris Johnson from delivering a no deal Brexit – but he vowed he would never take down a Tory Government. Mr Stewart, MP for Penrith and The Border and Secretary of State for International Development, revealed he has the numbers to stop a no deal from happening without taking down the next Prime Minister just weeks after his election. Tory grandee and pro-EU MP Ken Clarke and Chancellor of the Exchequers Philip Hammond have hinted they could back a no-confidence vote called by the Labour Party if Mr Johnson wins the Tory leadership contest and heads for a no deal.

iNews
Up to 100 Conservative MPs would vote with opposition parties to stop Boris Johnson from pressing ahead with a no-deal Brexit, leadership contender Rory Stewart has claimed. Both Mr Johnson and Dominic Raab have insisted that they are ready to lead Britain out of the European Union with or without an agreement on 31 October. Mr Stewart ruled out joining senior Tories who have signalled they could bring down the government if the next Prime Minister is intent on a no-deal Brexit.

Tory leadership

Telegraph
Rory Stewart is facing scrutiny over his alleged past as a spy after he denied working for MI6 before becoming an MP. The Tory leadership contender was asked directly at a hustings event on Monday whether he had ever spied for the Secret Intelligence Service, in the wake of mounting questions about his previous career. A Whitehall security source told The Telegraph that Mr Stewart had been recruited by MI6 after he left Oxford University and spent seven years as a spy before entering Parliament.

Express
RORY STEWART, currently in the midst of a campaign to become leader of the Tory Party, was forced to deny he worked as a spy for MI6 at a hustings event on Monday. A Whitehall source told The Daily Telegraph Mr Stewart, whose father was second in command for MI6 for five years, was recruited after his time studying at Oxford University. The source went on to say he spent seven years as a spy before entering politics. A 2010 article in the New Yorker by Ian Parker claimed Mr Stewart worked as a spy during his time as a British diplomat in Indonesia and then in Montenegro.

Express
BORIS JOHNSON’s allies are planning on “rigging” the Tory leadership contest to ensure the frontrunner avoids a face-off with Michael Gove, MPs have claimed. Mr Johnson’s backers are allegedly plotting to “lend” votes to Foreign Secretary Jeremy Hunt in a bid to rig the contest to succeed Theresa May. The extraordinary allegation was made by senior Tory MPs. The party members told The Sun Boris Johnson’s allies were desperate for him to swerve a direct battle with Mr Gove in the final stages of the race. One Tory said: “MPs on Boris’ team are looking at lending Jeremy votes. “

Mail
Rory Stewart has denied claims he has ever been a spy, despite previously admitting his career ‘gave the appearance’ he worked for MI6. The Tory leadership contender was asked about the long-running rumours he previously worked for the intelligence services at a hustings. The 46-year-old denied claims he worked for MI6 prior to becoming MP for Penrith and the Border in 2010. But a source told the Telegraph that Mr Stewart – the current International Development Secretary – was recruited soon after he left Oxford and spent seven years as a spy.

Times
Michael Gove is attempting to halt the momentum gathering behind Rory Stewart in the race for No 10 with a plea for MPs not to “polarise” the Conservative Party. With Boris Johnson almost certain of being one of the two candidates put to Tory members, Mr Stewart’s insurgent campaign has unsettled rivals scrambling for second place. Theresa May’s deputy, David Lidington, came out last night for Mr Stewart, the international development secretary.

Breitbart
The two runaway winners of last night’s Channel 4’s Conservative leadership contender debate were Boris Johnson and Nigel Farage. Boris Johnson won with his genius strategy of not bothering to turn up – having calculated, correctly, that it was beneath his dignity. Nigel Farage won because the whole grotesque event was an excruciating reminder of how constipated Britain badly needs the purgative force of The Brexit Party.

Guido
Boris Johnson could become Prime Minister tomorrow (Tuesday), thanks to Rory Stewart, obviating the need to go to any public hustings. The 1922 Committee’s new threshold rules mean that any candidate who gets fewer than 33 votes tomorrow is automatically eliminated from the contest, meaning if all but Boris fail to meet the threshold, he becomes PM. There is a real (if small) chance that due to Rory’s disruption, Hunt and Gove could slip back a little and other candidates not gain enough new supporters for an accidental coronation to happen… Guido’s tracker of public declarations shows that Jeremy Hunt and Michael Gove are both sitting on just on 34 public declarations, meaning Rory only has to attract two public switchers from each for neither to reach the 33 vote cut off.

Conservative Party

Express
THERESA MAY is set to ruffle a few more feathers inside Westminster by making one final appointment to her Government before departing Number 10 next month. Mrs May is reportedly in talks to appoint a Tory party donor as the next trade and investment minister. According to Sky News, former Fujitsu executive Simon Blagden has been ear-marked for the leading role in the Department for International Trade. Mr Blagden is also set to land a seat in the House of Lords. It is understood Mr Bladgen could be appointed within weeks despite the expected overhaul in Whitehall – caused by Mrs May’s resignation.

ITV News
Chancellor Philip Hammond is prepared to resign over Theresa May’s plans to spend billions of pounds on projects to shore up her legacy, it is understood. Senior Government sources have told the Press Association that tensions between Treasury and Number 10 officials have reached boiling point over the Prime Minister’s spending intentions. Mr Hammond is understood to be so against the plans that he is prepared to quit the Government in what would be an extraordinary move just weeks before the PM leaves office.

TBP

Westmonster
The Brexit Party’s Leader, Nigel Farage, has now confirmed that his party is “gearing up” to fight every seat in the country at the next General Election. Farage has said: “I don’t trust any of them (Tory leadership contenders) to deliver a genuine Brexit and unless that situation changes, we are gearing up as an organisation to fight every seat in the country.” It comes amid rumours that some Conservative donors are talking to Farage about the a pact at the next Westminster election. The Chairman of the Midlands Industrial Council, a group of Conservative donors, has called for the next Tory Leader to strike a deal with the Brexit Party.

Labour Party

Express
TOM Watson is bringing more chaos to a Labour Party already heavily divided over Brexit with a demand for another referendum on Britain’s exit from the European Union. The Labour Party‘s deputy leader has “strongly” urged for the party to back staying in the European Union in a speech at the Centre for European Reform this morning. The announcement is at odds with his leader Jeremy Corbyn who has refused to take an anti-Brexit stance, despite demands from some parts of his shadow cabinet.

Telegraph
Tom Watson has called for a special conference to settle Labour’s growing Brexit row by the end of July, as he attempted to push Jeremy Corbyn closer towards a second referendum on Monday. In a bid to force the Labour leader’s hand, Mr Watson is urging the party’s national executive committee (NEC) to approve an emergency ballot or meeting of members before Parliament rises for the summer. Challenging Mr Corbyn over his attempts to delay changing policy until Labour’s annual conference in September, Mr Watson said he feared it would be “too late” to prevent a no deal Brexit.

Times
Labour’s Brexit civil war flared again yesterday as the party’s chairman hit back at Tom Watson and his call to back Remain in a second referendum. Jeremy Corbyn has been under intense pressure to ditch Labour’s stance of “constructive ambiguity” on Brexit. His party suffered heavy losses to Remain-supporting parties such as the Liberal Democrats, the Greens and the SNP at the European elections last month.

Express
BREXITEER Kate Hoey dismissed Tom Watson’s claims Labour’s ‘values are Remain’ on BBC Newsnight last night. Ms Hoey, who was for a time co-chair of Labour Leave, was responding to the Deputy Leader’s speech at a pro-EU think tank on Monday. She told host Mark Urban: “The values that Tom Watson talked about, all about the values of solidarity and the values of freedom and these were all part of the EU. I believe Labour should be an internationalist party and all those values are equally true of being an internationalist.”

Guardian
Labour’s deputy leader, Tom Watson, has said he believes his party would be “leaving me” if it cannot fully endorse a second referendum, hours after giving a speech in which he said it should be the party of remain. Watson told the BBC that Labour “certainly might lose some votes” for backing a referendum, but would pay “a very high electoral price” for not taking a clear position on Brexit. Asked if he might be prepared to leave the party without a clear change of direction, he said, “I’m never going to leave the Labour party,” but then added: “Sometimes I wonder whether the Labour party is leaving me.”

Sun
TOM WATSON yesterday warned Brexit could destroy Labour as he demanded they become the party of Remain. Waging war on Jeremy Corbyn’s Brexit policy, he said Labour must finally fully back a second referendum and campaign to stay in the EU. And the Labour deputy leader warned that if the party refuses to shift position, “there will be a very high electoral price to pay”. He said true British patriots would back remain – as he suggested the godfather of British theatre William Shakespeare would oppose Brexit.

IndependentLabour’s deputy leader Tom Watson is stepping up pressure for a shift in the party’s Brexit stance within the coming weeks, after a meeting for the shadow cabinet to thrash out the issue was called off at short notice. In an impassioned speech on Monday, Mr Watson called for Labour to throw its weight whole-heartedly behind the campaign for a Final Say referendum, arguing the party should be “loud and proud” in its support for remaining in the EU. But no new date has yet been fixed for the shadow cabinet showdown, and sources close to Watson said he was concerned that time was running out for the party to make an impact ahead of the 31 October deadline for Brexit.

Express
JEREMY CORBYN is planning a massive raid on children who inherit property and cash from their parents. But what is the “lifetime gift tax”? Labour party leader Jeremy Corbyn has proposed replacing inheritance tax with a levy on cash and property given to individuals during their lifetimes. This “lifetime gift tax” was outlined in a report, Land for the Many, commissioned by the Labour party which claims to “put land where it belongs: at the heart of political debate and discussion” and “allow for the better sharing out of the unearned windfalls arising out of the housing boom”.

LibDems

Times
Jo Swinson has said her party could work with others to put up joint second-referendum candidates in elections if she becomes Liberal Democrat leader. The former minister, who is vying to replace Sir Vince Cable, said many pro-Remain voters wanted politicians to put aside their party loyalties and work together to stop Brexit. Plans for a single People’s Vote candidate in last month’s Peterborough byelection disintegrated amid rancour and disarray. But Ms Swinson indicated in an interview with The Times that she would be prepared to look again at the idea if she wins her party’s leadership contest next month.

Peterborough

Sky News
Five allegations of malpractice relating to the Peterborough by-election which Labour won by 683 votes are being investigated by police. Cambridgeshire Police said three relate to postal votes, one allegation is of bribery and corruption and the fifth is of a breach of the privacy of the vote. Labour candidate Lisa Forbes was elected after the by-election on 6 June, narrowly beating Nigel Farage’s Brexit Party. Peterborough Council said on 10 June it received one unconfirmed report regarding alleged bribery before polling day which was referred to police and no further action will be taken, the authority said.

Huffington Post
Police are investigating five allegations of malpractice relating to the Peterborough by-election, which Labour won by 683 votes. Three of the allegations relate to postal votes, one is of bribery and corruption and the fifth is of a breach of the privacy of the vote, Cambridgeshire Police said. Labour candidate Lisa Forbes was elected after the by-election on June 6, with Nigel Farage’s Brexit Party in second place. Peterborough Council said on June 10 that it received one unconfirmed report regarding alleged bribery prior to polling day. This was referred to police and no further action will be taken, the authority said.

NHS

Mail
A £20billion a year plan to transform the NHS is in ‘jeopardy’ because ministers have failed to address the social care crisis, health chiefs have warned. Theresa May announced the extra funds by 2023 to mark the NHS’s 70th anniversary last year. The cash will boost the health budget which currently stands at £127billion a year. The NHS long-term plan, unveiled in January, set out how the extra money would be spent and promised to reduce demand on hospitals by emphasising prevention and community care.

Independent
Theresa May’s flagship healthcare initiative, a £20.6bn increase in NHS budgets to fund its Long-Term Plan, is set to be brought down by her failure to tackle crises in social care and staffing, NHS leaders have said. Nine out of 10 leaders of NHS trusts, social care organisations and community care services said a funding deal for social care is needed if the reforms in the NHS plan are to be delivered. The government has delayed its promised reforms six times since 2017 after abandoning its original plan for funding care when it was dubbed a “dementia tax”.

Education

Times
Universities have been told that the growing number of students from disadvantaged backgrounds was not to blame for high dropout rates. The Office for Students (OfS) said that “access and good outcomes are not a zero-sum game” and the evidence suggested that it was poorly taught courses with thin content that drove young people away. In an article for The Times Red Box Nicola Dandridge, chief executive of the OfS, said that universities had to face the facts that too often “students are being inappropriately recruited then left to flounder”.

Mail
Two thirds of the country’s most disadvantaged children are white British – but all too often are ignored, the Education Secretary has warned. Damian Hinds said the focus of social mobility discussions tended to be on ethnic minorities that needed a helping hand, while the white majority were mentioned ‘in passing’. In addition, he said it was ‘too simplistic’ to assume the whole of the Midlands and the North were worse off than the South, as many regional cities do extremely well.

Heathrow

Mail
Eco-warriors from Extinction Rebellion have said they will target Heathrow with drones – but are set give passengers and the airport two months to prepare. The militant climate change group announced yesterday plans had been put on hold to target Europe’s busiest airport in June and July as the spat over a third runway continues. But the statement revealed a detailed ‘action plan’ for when the disruption is revived, including a map of the area drones may be flown. It said: ‘For absolute clarity therefore, Extinction Rebellion has not removed Heathrow Airport from its strategic planning.’

Listeria

Times
All hospitals where patients have died from poisoning after eating sandwiches were identified yesterday. Five people have died and four been left seriously unwell after an outbreak of listeria caused by packaged chicken sandwiches at groups of NHS trust hospitals. Public Health England named University Hospitals of Derby and Burton and University Hospitals of Leicester as places where patients had died. Western Sussex Hospitals, the Frimley Health NHS Foundation and the East Kent Hospitals University trust had patients who became unwell.

ITV News
Two more hospitals have been named as having had listeria-related patient deaths occur on their premises after pre-packaged sandwiches and salads were consumed – bringing the total deaths to five. The locations are University Hospitals of Derby and Burton NHS Foundation Trust and University Hospital of Leicester NHS Trust, Public Health England said. It comes after an outbreak of listeria was confirmed following the deaths of three patients who had eaten a particular brand of sandwichesand salads, which have now been withdrawn from hospitals.

Fighter jet

Times
President Macron said the idea that there was a European race to build a next-generation fighter jet was “ridiculous” yesterday as Spain joined a Franco-German initiative. France and Germany hailed “another decisive step” for their warplane, due to enter service from 2040, as their defence ministers signed a co-operation agreement with Spain in front of a mock-up at the Paris Air Show. The initiative comes a year after Britain announced plans for a Tempest fighter, which is expected to become operational by 2035, complete with lasers and autonomous technology.

About The Author

Debbie has been a journalist for longer than she cares to admit! She has been freelance for the last 15 years and is deputy editor on INDEPENDENCE Daily, specialising in covering the morning press each day.

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5 Comments

Harold Armitage
on June 18, 2019 at 5:32 pm

So the Gollum is as undemocratic as the scumbag liberals then?
THERE’s a surprise.

T G Spokes
on June 18, 2019 at 5:26 pm

What possible excuse can there be for 16 years to make an aeroplane… It is my guess that 15 of those years is regulations,health and safety, Programming for Just in Time , Does anything strike me as odd. How long didit take the Yanks to get to the moon.. And they didn’t have the benefit of our Government

Rob Pearce
on June 18, 2019 at 5:02 pm

Hallo Debbie.

Do your journalistic antennae detect any reason for the following(to me), inexplicable behaviour?

All the PM candidates, at least the Brexiteer ones seem to act ignorant of the fact that the winner doesn’t have to actually offer a HoC vote in order to No Deal us. Despite all the squawkings to the contrary from Remoaner candidates and MPs, all he has to do is sit still with his arms folded till Halloween and we’re out, not a bl**dy thing they can do about it except possibly threaten to bash him up in the corridors. The EU can’t impose an extension without the PM of the day asking for it.

I mean, Boris does REALISE this, doesn’t he?? Please God he is ‘Last Resorting’ No Deal so as to get in No 10 without frightening the Tory snowflakes, then determines to go through with it anyway. Hope his backbone is strong and his skin is super thick.

Personal notes:
All I know for sure is that the Tory party will make sure a nominal Brexiteer gets the job (I say nominal, because of backbone an skin issues as mentioned above). Even the Tories aren’t THAT stupid not to.
I would prefer Raab to get it, because my gut tells me he means what he says. Boris, I’m not so sure about.

Jim R
on June 18, 2019 at 9:04 pm

Looks like you were right Rob, and that is why Raab got the elbow. Dirty tricks still going on?

Ken P
on June 18, 2019 at 10:02 pm

An old saying from the North West of England,

“When in doubt, do nowt.”

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